Epping Forest Assistant Forest Keeper

ABOUT THE ROLE

• To provide a warm, genuine and friendly welcome to visitors and stakeholders, engaging with, and encouraging them, to explore the Forest and Bufferlands in a safe and considerate manner to protect the nature, heritage and cultural assets that define the landholding.
• To present sites to the public at the appropriate standard through clearing litter, undertaking routine maintenance and minor repairs to Forest infrastructure.
• To assist Forest Keepers (Constables) with their daily duties including delivery of basic countryside/land management tasks as outlined in annual work, site or project plans.
• To understand bylaws and encourage public adherence to protect the Forest and maintain the safety of visitors, staff and volunteers.
• To assist colleagues with land, asset, and conservation monitoring, gathering accurate data to inform operational management decisions.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Be the welcoming face of the Forest. Undertake regular patrols, on foot and by sustainable transport that provide a high visibility presence to help visitors feel safe, while promoting behaviour that supports site objectives.
• Support the Recycling and Waste team to meet agreed standards, maintaining an efficient litter removal and recycling service across the site, liaising where appropriate, with other services, including local and highways authorities to maximise litter removal within the local community.
• Undertake regular visual checks and report any defects of the natural or physical infrastructure of the site. Report these appropriately to ensure a timely remedy.
• Undertake daily opening or closing of car parks, in line with shift arrangements, reporting any problems to the Countryside Managers or Head of Operations or administration team, as necessary.
• Ensure promotional material is kept up to date and in good condition including posters/temporary notices/information signs etc.
• To undertake appropriate training for hand-held tools, machinery and specialist vehicles as required and assist with the maintenance thereof (equipment and vehicles) in accordance with City of London (CoL) health and safety procedures.
• Maintain good working relations with relevant local stakeholders, local user groups and Forest users in the local community and be a point of contact and liaison between them and the Epping Forest management team.
• Assist Forest Keepers to deliver occasional volunteer tasks providing a quality experience for participants and success against agreed task objectives.
• Support Forest Keepers to gather evidence of the Epping Forest Act (1878) byelaw breaches or other offences to the Environmental Protection Act (1990).
• To support colleagues and emergency services with incident response in line with local procedures, corporate policy, government (e.g. DEFRA or APA) guidance or legislation.
• To use a PC, mobile telephone and other mobile systems as appropriate packages including Outlook, Teams and Civi CRM, with Microsoft Office and other bespoke packages, and software. Attend training and develop skills necessary. Carry, operate, maintain and be responsible for mobile communications equipment in accordance with site and CoL procedures.
• Ensure that all tasks are carried out in accordance with relevant legislation, codes of practice and guidance. Observe divisional health & safety procedures, following risk assessments and safe systems of work, reporting accidents and near misses through dedicated reporting mechanisms. To have regard to your own health and safety and that of other employees of the department, volunteers, and contractors as appropriate, including conducting dynamic risk assessments as required.
• To conduct any reasonable task which, in the opinion of the Superintendent or member of the Senior Management Team, is appropriate to the role. This may involve out-of-hours working in accordance with CoL’s policies.
• Actively seek to implement CoL’s Equal Opportunity Policy and the objective to promote equality of opportunity in relation to the duties of the post.
• To be committed to continuous professional development and excellent customer service undertaking vocational and structured training and/or project work as identified by management and as part of the annual performance and development reviews.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

Please find below the qualifications, experience and technical skills required to undertake this post. Each criterion will be assessed at application (A), interview (I) or
test (T) as indicated below.

Professional Qualifications / Relevant Education & Training:

Essential

• GCSE level (Grade 4 or above) in English, and Math’s or equivalent (A)
• Full Clean driving licence (A)

Desirable

• NVQ level 2 in Countryside, Conservation, Ecology or a related subject (A)
• First Aid certified (A)

Experience:

Essential

• Experience of working in a busy open space. IE countryside or park. (A, I)
• Experience of providing excellent customer service. (A, I)
• Experience of working effectively. As part of a high performing team. (A, I)

Desirable

• Experience of undertaking routine maintenance and minor repairs in an open space setting. (A, I)
• Experience of litter and waste management with sustainability targets and goals. (A,I)
• Demonstrable record of adherence to policies and or procedures from previous employment in public sector and or private organisation. (A, I)

Technical Skills & Knowledge:

• Knowledge of open space is state and nature conservation work. (A, I)
• Knowledge of working with and maintaining hand power tools or machinery. Enduring safe and effective task completion. (A, I)
• Proven excellent customer care skills, ideally in an open space environment. (A, I)

Other Relevant Information

• Experience of working in an open environment in all weather conditions.
  Required to work a mixture of social and unsocial hours including early and late shifts over weekends and bank holidays as per roster to provide cover and deliver services.
• Full time post average 35 hours per week per annum however can be seasonal. For example, 30 hours per week in winter and 40 hours per week in summer.
• Working hours vary as per roster between 07.00 – 22.30 daily.

Working hours: Working hours vary as per roster between 07.00 – 22.30 daily. Average 35 hrs per week on a rotational basis (2 weekends in 4).

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and as part of the selection process the successful applicant will be required to obtain a basic Disclosure & Barring Service check.